Show creator Sudip Sharma said that the book was the starting point of the show.

Twitter/@AnushkaSharma

Amazon Prime's new original series Pataal Lok has been loved by fans and critics alike. Produced by Anushka Sharma and starring Neeraj Kabi, Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee, Swastika Mukherjee and Gul Panag in lead roles, the show revolves around inspector Haatiram Choudhury solving the assassination attempt case of TV news anchor Sanjeev Mehra.

In the 9 episodes, the show delves into the media industry, politics, violence, abuse, poverty, corruption, Islamophobia, casteism and class divide.

Meanwhile, Twitter users have wondered whether the show is based on rape-accused journalist-author Tarun Tejpal’s book - The Story of My Assassins. "Watching Paatal Lok: from Neeraj Kabi’s look to the story, it’s Tarun Tejpal’s “Story of my Assassins ” so far," author Arnab Ray said.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta wrote, "Jaideep Ahlawat is such a brilliant actor. On Ep 3 of Paatal Lok. Everything about the show is good. Sudip Sharma and his team have adapted Tarun Tejpal's book into a very, very engaging drama. Great story telling."

So what's the deal, is Paatal Lok not the Story of My Assassins or have they erased Tarun Tejpal's name from everywhere, press releases to credits?

Earlier, a 2019 article in Mumbai Mirror stated that Sharma was producing a web series for Amazon which was based on journalist-author Tarun Tejpal’s book, The Story of My Assassins.

Meanwhile, show creator Sudip Sharma in a recent interview to Film Companion said that the book was the starting point of the show. "After taking one line from the book, the whole idea was to explore various themes that fascinate us, things that were contemporary, things that bothered us (writers)."